Should we have gone for him when he said that he wanted to get back into coaching a Super League club again. He 's certainly turned wire around.

No. He's such a boring man. Good coach, but very, very boring.

oh well in that case i dont know why we bothered to give him a job.

Strange one, isn't it?

Maybe, but, it would have cost us too much to sack Nobby and brought him in. He has done an ok job at Warrington. Still they're in the bottom half of the Superleague.

Yeah, what you want is a real fun loving character as a coach who turns up for press conferences with oranges hanging from his nose - it doesn't matter about success, its a CHARACTER you want!



If Wigan were genuinely in with a chance of getting Smith (which I doubt) then they missed a real trick and their fans should be p*ssed about it

i dont think wigan fans would be p*ssed.. its not in their nature.

There's no doubt for me that TS has made a big difference to wire and credit to them for getting him, but I wouldn't have wanted him, hopefully we can do better, and if anybody wonders who I mean look in my sig.

It does go to show though that the anti Noble brigade which I include myself in are right when it comes to show what a change of coach can do for you, had wire stuck with Lowe's I very much doubt they would have got past the quaters let alone to the final.

Pretty sure he'd already agreed to sign for us when he said that. We just had to bring him in earlier than expected.

Why would Brian Noble wish to lead his team to finals when he earns a pretty penny from the BBC and SKY to wear smart suit, tie & earpiece??

Id have had Smith at the time and still would, if Noble goes we'll end up with someone without any SL coaching experience and its a greater risk than what Smith would of been IMO.

Looking at the league table I'd say Noble has done a better job than Smith.

You having a laugh? Smith has done more in 4 months than Noble in 3 years at Wigan.
Let's consider where Wire were when Smith came in, 2nd bottom.
Took them from dead beats to Cup Winners in a few months.

Up until 3 games ago, they were on a par with us the league but took their eye of the ball in the lead up to Wembley.

How much of that is down to the coach and how much down to the players, though?

2nd bottom in the league has nothing to do with winning the cup.
If he gets them into the playoffs from 2nd bottom then fairt play to him.
What I think Warrington have over us is that they know who's in charge next tear. We're in late August and we still don't know 100% who'll be our coach in 2010.

Both Smith and Lowe's have had the same squad this year to use, yet the results under Smith while not spectacular in the league have been a massive improvement over Lowe's. Yes it boils down to the players at the end of the day but it shows what a good coach compared to a bad one can get out of the same group of players.

Like I said, walk before he can run.

Noble's been at Wigan 3 years (they are Noble's players).

Smith has been at Wire 4 months (they are Cullens / Lowes's players - apart from Mathers).

When Noble came in at Wigan in 2006, he got us away from bottom did we make the playoffs? No. He didn't win us the Challenge up either.

How much of a difference to us that is making is difficult to say, but as time goes by it's getting harder and harder to tell who will be are coach next year. I for one hope it isn't Noble and instead is the guy in my sig.

I'm a bit loathed to put any arguments forward about the Noble and Smith because of the crazy situation I mentioned in the last post.
I really hope that Smith can work some of this 'magic' on England in the 4 nations.

Getting my tickets for the England-Australia game at the JJB next week

I will judge Smith on Englands performance.

I would not say he turned wire around, they had a crap coach before that but they have quality players. Most coaches could of made the difference to wire.

Jimmy Lowes crap? That's very generous.

Why?

We've thrown everyone at the GB/England job. Thats clearly a deeper issue.

Reckon he should be judged on his domestic achievements personally. He turned Huddersfield around, completely transformed Leeds and turned them into the fantastic side they are today, and has brought Warrington a Challenge Cup within months of joining

He's an absolutely phenomenal coach (certainly for British RL's standards) and anyone who says otherwise is bitter or daft

He's certainly turned Mathers round. What a difference.

You think so? Still wouldn't have him in my team.

I thought he had an OK game today and that was about it, certainly wouldn't consider having him back when comparing him to Phelps, but I'm glad the lads turned him self around.